A graphically bland, but ultimately satisfying re-creation of the front office number-crunching in the halls of MLB's finest.

A true wizard’s wheeze, and a fine return for one of gaming’s oldest tactical classics.

PC racing fans of all stripes will have a blast with GTR, but serious driving aficionados - those with synthetic motor oil in their veins and lots of horsepower in their towers - will go absolutely hog-wild over this amazing new racer. [May 2005, p.76]

Control's thin protagonist and abrupt ending are propped up by an abundance of mystery, wonder, and glorious room-destroying combat.

Highly entertaining, substantial and a visual treat but with a slight whiff of Gorgonzola in the story department.

Above all, it’s just a wonderful piece of entertainment. It’s surprising, surreal, packed with jokes, and rarely frustrating. I didn’t get bored once across the 17 hours it took me to finish the story and most of the sidequests, and it kept me laughing consistently until the credits. If that isn’t worth 90%, I don’t know what is.

Kunitsu-Gami's a gorgeous and engaging take on the tower defence formula.

A near-perfect combination of gut-wrenching horror and intenst action. [May 2001, p.58]

A deep, dark, challenging and impossibly rewarding fantasy RPG, sadly given a straight and perfunctory port from console.

Delightfully difficult combat and meaningful exploration make Tunic a retro-inspired modern marvel.

Shadow Tactics’ impressive missions, laden toy box and likeable cast make it one of the greatest stealth games of the last decade.

But Sega's expansion for Medieval II does add around 80 hours of gameplay to the franchise--all for the price of a regular($29.99)expansion pack. [Dec 2007, p.69]

Whatever your thoughts on the redesigned Dante, this is a worthy entry in the series with a marvellous combat system at its core.

Shovel Knight lovingly recreates the simple pleasures of 8-bit platformers and improves on them with modern ideas that make every level different and worth playing.

A lighthearted romp, with plenty of opportunities for creative building and a surprisingly good story.

Silent Hill f is an excellent next step for this accomplished horror series. Proving that the horrors of Silent Hill aren't and shouldn't be restricted to the iconic American mountain town.

A classic adventure pumped up with massive doses of adrenaline. [Nov 2005, p.82]

Citizen Sleeper 2's broader scope stretches its mechanics thin, even while its story flourishes.

Two Princes may not double your fun, but they will satisfy fans of the series. [Mar 2006, p.98]

If you've been following Sam and Max's adventures, your life won't be complete until you play this episode. [June 2008, p.76]

A delightful adventure with clever puzzles, a great atmospheric soundtrack and superbly stylized art. [Jan 2010, p.75]

Intricate, turn-based tactical combat delivered straight to your inbox. [Sept 2011, p.64]

Valkyria Chronicles is one of the most unique and fun strategy games I’ve ever played, despite a few flaws with the port.

Nioh 3 is everything I wanted from a sequel to Nioh 2, and yet, somehow so much more. One of the best soulslikes yet.

Suffers from a severe lack of character development in almost every nook and cranny of its design. But it offers an interesting main story, bottomless value for the dollar in terms of sheer open-ended exploration, and a very cool co-op mode. [May 2003, p.96]

The Wolf Among Us deftly merges Walking Dead's moral quandaries with a noir murder mystery starring Fables' cast of fairy tale legends.

The veteran playmaker is still banging them in and deserves that new contract.

I'm unable to go back to straight and simple first-person shooters. Far Cry 2 hasn’t just exceeded my expectations, it’s blown them away. [Holiday 2008, p.58]

Audiosurf is about experiencing music with more than your ears. [June 2008, p.75]

Aftermath retains most of the polish present in DICE's previous expansions. [March 2013, p.79]

Charming, clever and funny, this is one of the best new platformers on the PC at the moment. Recommended.

Accessible yet complex, chaotic yet beautiful, this is the real fighting game deal.

Sith Lords tends to exaggerate the best features and few flaws of its predecessor. Its environments are still linear and some are less polished, but the combat, character interactions, and story are all terrific. [Apr 2005, p.62]

Death's Door boils modern action-adventure game design down to its fundamentals, and the reduction is excellent.

At its best when the screen is full of enemies, Amid Evil is a badass monster mash.

Thrills abound for PC baseball fans who can live with an imperfect game. [May 2005, p.85]

A stylish lunicidal skater with peerless vibes and devilishly sleek flip tricks.

An excellent beat-em-up with tons of wit and great combat, Full Metal Furies belongs on any couch co-op playlist.

Wildly unpredictable but always enjoyable, The Alters is a masterclass in high-tension gaming.

Living as a werewolf is still pretty cool. You can inflict serious damage with those claws, leap amazing distances, and take on more enemies than would be possible in your human form. [Sept 2003, p.74]

While Rogue Legacy lacks the balance and crispness of Spelunky, it mostly makes up for its shortcomings with heart, imagination, and a killer compulsion loop. [Oct 2013, p.75]

Not everything it should've been, but sporadically brilliant and usually fun. [July 2004, p.56]

A gritty detective adventure that's nearly as clever and captivating as the original.

Octahedron gets more mileage than you'd think out of the ability to summon platforms beneath your feet.

Deep, exciting and, for the first time, as human as real football, Football Manager 2014 has hit the back of the net.

In a field of one, it's king. [Feb 2001, p.71]

The last few herbs and spices that Civ V’s epic stew was missing. A recipe for hundreds of hours more delicious turn-based strategy.

A new bar for complexity in the historical grand strategy genre that sometimes buckles under the weight of its ambition.

With a newfound litheness on the pitch and deep data analysis, FM21 gives you an easy excuse to relapse.

Not the best Total War game but not the worst by a long shot.

A captivating story and varied card battles ensure this light-touch RPG remains entertaining throughout its lengthy campaign.

On par with its (excellent) predecessors, Shadow Gambit trades some focused design for deeply compelling piratical freedom.

A better version of everything the MMORPG community has cooked up so far, and more. [Feb 2004, p.60]

Better than the original in almost every respect; good, mindless fun. [Apr 2002, p.74]

It definitely adds more than the two preceding expansion packs, but it’s still a slave to the simplistic mechanics that, for many, start to get old after a few weeks of play. [Jan 2002, p.60]

A visual masterpiece with enough good gameplay to make it a classic. [Feb 2001, p.50]

No flight sim has ever been more convincing...IL-2 Ace continues the series' climb as the runaway leader in the World War II prop-sim wars. [June 2004, p.72]

Merciless, frustrating, and harder than dry cereal, but exquisitely balanced. Few games are so rewarding. [July 2013, p.62]

If the Warhammer universe intrigues you, get this add-on AND "Dawn of War." [Dec 2005, p.82]

Beneath its charming and inventive worlds, Outer Wilds hides a cleverly unfolding mystery.

A palatable metroidvania with a mediocre story, my biggest frustration with The Lost Crown is how long it takes to get to the good stuff.

THUG 2's combination of goofball story, challenging skate stunts, and ever-more-ridiculous objectives is so addictive that I'd learn to play with my feet if my hands fell off. [Jan 2005, p.97]

A serene gravity flipping puzzler with impossible structures to wrap your head around.

An original and pleasantly demanding puzzle-style game that leaves you wanting slightly more and slightly more variety.

With Doom’s campaign, id Software found a sweet spot nestled somewhere between nostalgia and modernity that celebrates the pulpy sheen of big-budget shooters and resurrects an intense, simplified focus on the shooting itself. Doom sticks a bit too close to home to reinvigorate the genre, but it’s a reminder that FPS games aren’t limited to stop and pop corridors and political melodrama. It’s a reminder that sometimes a controlled, crafted appeal to base desires—going fast, flying high, and swift, tongue-in-cheek demon justice—are more than enough.

An achievement as an RPG and an MMO, The Old Republic offers something bold and new for gamers. Don't miss out.

There's a good wedge of new content and some polished visuals in the Shrouded Isles package, but what's missing is any sort of improvement to the game's Realm-vs.-Realm premise. [Mar 2003, p.108]

And did I mention massive? The Shadowlands expansion introduces a whole new quasi-metaphysical world to explore, along with two extra professions. [Jan 2004, p.107]

Obsidian manages to distinguish itself as a truly different adventure, where traditional puzzling melds with abstract thought. [May 1997, p.124]

Simply the best rally sim around, building on its predecessor’s already fine foundations.

Not everything is perfect, but you'd earn incompetence points by missing a refined and reduced-price version of Dawn of War II. [May 2010, p.72]

A few technical and dialogue hiccups annoy, but overall TWD continues to be one of the best stories in gaming.

It's mad. In fact, it barely makes any sense at all. But for all its wonky bits, there's an odd charm to Volition's decision to leave nothing on the drawing board. It's not the largest sandbox, but it is packed full of brilliant toys. Saints Row: The Third's commitment to unrestricted, ridiculous fun is unflinching, and the product is a city full of glorious slapstick debauchery.

More wasteland to wander. New Vegas is good, but the failure to move the series on makes it feel a tiny bit stale.

The most innovative sim in years, even with its manageability issues. [Jan 2005, p.66]

Polished city-building that goes the extra mile to create character and meaning to your block-dropping feats.

I never grew bored or frustrated with SimGolf, but I didn't lose countless hours of my life to it the way I did to "The Sims" or "RollerCoaster Tycoon." [Mar 2002, p.62]

If Generals had shipped with a more compelling story and more skirmish/multiplayer options, I'd be calling it one of the greatest RTS games ever made. [May 2003, p.56]

Hordes' goodness mostly comes down to its deliciously vicious weapons, brawnier spells, phatter loot, and more monumental ass-whupping (allowed by the higher level-cap). [Mar 2004, p.64]

Though slightly tarnished, Tactics Ogre: Reborn is still a tactical RPG jewel.

Two Point Museum is the coolest, cosiest, and most evolved iteration of the formula to date, even if its more obtuse aspects prevented me from becoming a pro curator.

The tech specs are demanding, but this is the Middle-Earth game to rule them all.

Pinball FX2 is still pinball, and pinball is still best played on a real pinball table. But this is so good that it takes an extremely close second place. [Oct 2013, p.75]

If you can overlook the minor niggles, Resident Evil comes highly recommended. [Nov 1997, p.215]

A roller coaster ride of ball-bouncing action that loves to break its own rules.

This light touch remaster makes a perfect pairing with Nightdive's far-reaching System Shock 1 remake.

While Horizon’s PC port can’t quite go toe-to-toe with the likes of RDR2’s conversion, this is still a highly polished, top-tier open world adventure. Though it lifts stealth and exploration elements from other games, Aloy’s imaginative combat and captivating metallic foes ensure the time I spent with Horizon will burn bright in my memory.

For those with the machine to handle it, PlanetSide 2 is never anything less than staggering. On your own, it's a spectacle. Stand far enough back and you can almost take it all in, but there's just too much there to focus on. With teammates, the picture comes into glorious focus.

Better than RollerCoaster Tycoon World, but doesn't do much to innovate on the formula.

For serious flight simmers – especially those with middling systems – Flanker 2.5 could well be the best $10 you've ever spent. [June 2002, p.61]

GT Legends deftly accelerates its way to the front of the pack as the prettiest and most personality-rich racing experience the PC has ever seen. [Jan 2005, p.108]

Infuriatingly difficult, but perfectly constructed. Ikaruga is the PC's best bullet-hell shooter.

A challenging and inventive set of mysteries to solve tied together with a brilliant storyline.

<i>Space Rangers 2</i> should have shipped with better documentation, and beating the game can prove difficult for new players, even on the easiest difficulty setting. But at 29 bucks(which includes the original <i.Space rangers</i>, a game that never shipped in the U.S.), it's the deal of the century. [July 2006, p.66]

I'm coming up on 100 hours logged in the expansion and I don't even feel close to done, nor have I slowed down a bit. My friends and I have been burning the midnight oil and playing almost every night, which would've been unthinkable before. After a precarious first year, I'm finally enjoying Destiny 2 again. It feels good to have it back.

An engaging turn-based strategy game that manages to retain the overall feel and flavor of the series while being distinct from its brethren. [Jan 2002, p.68]

A very satisfying wargame, if not the end-all-beat-all game we'd hoped for. [Aug 2000, p.88]

Westwood must have felt that the RA engine didn't need improving - add 7% if you agree. [Jan 2001, p.118]